La bibliothèque de Louis-Philippe en 1824 d’après un rapport de Jean Vatout, bibliothécaire du duc d’Orléans

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Appointed librarian to the Duke of Orléans in 1822, Jean Vatout (1791–1848) waited several years before taking an interest in his duties. It was only in the summer of 1824 that Louis-Philippe ordered him to really get to work. An unpublished report kept in the House of Orléans archives at the Archives nationales shows that the young man of letters quickly proved himself equal to the task: within a few months the Duke of Orléans’ library in the Palais-Royal was rearranged, the collections of prints and manuscripts bound by the best craftsmen, the princely apartments were furnished with shelves and a catalogue assisted scholars willing to consult books. At the same time Vatout took charge of the libraries in the Orléans country houses, such as Neuilly and Eu, and also of the duke’s coin and medal collection. With notes by Louis-Philippe, this progress report provides an insight into the working of a small network of princely libraries in the making, and of the collection gathered by Louis-Philippe after returning to France in 1814, that quickly became one of the most beautiful and rich libraries in Paris, with 30,000 volumes by 1830.